.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.

[Speaks]

I bought some but havent shot it yet. Its listed at 2700 fps so maybe a little slow. Should get to shoot a few this weekend.

I like that the black hills stuff is nearly a spot on match for the QD "Average Gun" calculation. The 75 gr sabre that I use for practice is "bad gun" which I dont like the mismatch. - But I have a ton of it so.......... This stuff looks like it would match my sabres - so while I dont like it being slower it would make practice match hunting which is interesting at least.

 

[Choupique]

As a side note, CMP is great to do business with and I always check there for ammo deals

HOWEVER, they will only ship ammo or guns with adult signature required so it can cause some delivery headaches. I have it shipped to my work so it isn't a problem but it's something to keep in mind.

 

[Brap01]

Either gonna use this 223 or a 243 w/ 95 gr sst's for pigs this winter.

I killed pigs with a 223 once before, but was using deer season ballistic ammo and wasn't pleased with the performance.

I know there are pig pics on here, but don't know how to dig thru to see them. Can anyone share them?

You can look through the summary page for pig pics

Post in thread '.223 for bear, mountain goat, deer, elk, and moose.'

Feb 15, 2023

Somebody around Page 140 said "No cheat sheet" but I say "Yes cheat sheet"


Page 1 thru 10: Lot of arguing, couple of pictures. Some urban legend type of stuff, I can see why somebody would abandon thread because it looks like it's going to be another 160 pages of memes and shitposts

Page 10 thru 40 though, it gets interesting with lots of pictures of dead things
Form kill pics
Many pics, pic, pic, pic, Moose scapula, 4 elk

PNWGator:
OP's wife shot a moose
A frigin moose, holy shit
I mean, if a chick can do it...

Other...

• ORJoe

• 
• 
• 

 

[Big_wals]

I won’t be changing bullets anytime soon but just curious if anyone has tried the 80gr eldm or x in a 8 twist 223 yet. I thought they might be fun for some long range targets and maybe do some hunting with them

80 eldms shoot great out of my factory Tikka. I haven’t tried any eldx yet, it’s on my list for next year.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

I believe @B_Reynolds_AK was running them in a 223 with .100 freebore with good success.

@Poe. At longer ranges, ie 600+ yards, with my factory Tikka 1/8 twist barrel, I was having to input changes into my calculator in order to make hits. I believe the BC was falling off due to the slower twist rate. Could be wrong. But, that’s what the outcome was.

I now have a PVA barrel that is 1/7 with .100 fb and it stabilizes the 80 ELD-M’s perfect. I’ll shoot out to 1,000+ yards with it. Also the 80 M’s work great for hunting too. I used that bullet on sheep and deer, from both my 22 CM and 223 this season.

 

[HighUintas]

Are people generally using the 80m more than the x or the other way around? What's been the difference between the two in shooting and terminal behavior?

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Are people generally using the 80m more than the x or the other way around? What's been the difference between the two in shooting and terminal behavior?

Slightly different wound shape that someone like @mxgsfmdpx could speak to. However I’ve been perfectly happy with wound channels from the 80 M’s from 100 to 600 yards. Whatever one your barrel likes the best is most likely the right answer.

 

[HighUintas]

No major trends in ease of accuracy between the two similar to how the 88 doesn't shoot well for many people?

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

No major trends in ease of accuracy between the two similar to how the 88 doesn't shoot well for many people?

In my 22CM there was a difference. The M’s shot a fair bit better. That’s at 3200 fps though. 223 velocities could show something different. I havnt tried them (X’s) in mine.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

No major trends in ease of accuracy between the two similar to how the 88 doesn't shoot well for many people?

No. 80 X's and 88 M's have both been very hit and miss in 223s and 22 creeds for me. 80 Xs probably even more so than the 88 Ms, but I've shot much more of them.

73 and 80 Ms have faired better accuracy wise and have been less picky on speed, barrel twist, etc. Also, for whatever reason, while lower volume from me than 80 Xs and 88 M's, the terminal "issues" I've seen in 108 and 88 M's hasn't happened as often with the 80 Ms. Likely just happenstance and low enough volume.

80 X's have been very consistent killers for me, nearly indistinguishable from 77 TMKs in nearly all cases. It's just been difficult to get them to shoot under 1.75-2.25 MOA lot to lot, barrel to barrel, etc.

I think we are putting carts before the horses here in general. ELDMs are great killing bullets and it takes actually opening up enough animals (and paying attention) and/or shooting reduced loads into good gel recipes to see meaningful trends. Most the time, you won't even see anything other than excellent wounds with Ms.

Again, I've been a vocal proponent on this site favoring overall wound reliability/performance of SSTs and ELDXs over ELDMs in general since I joined this site. This doesn't mean that ELDM's perform "poorly" it's mostly splitting hairs and is "evidence" that nearly all will never see.

TLDR: Shoot whatever your gun shoots the best. Stop chasing max speed with non hunting safe loads and watch your groups tighten up. Velocity trumps BC out to most realistic hunting ranges with most shooters. 77 TMKs continue to be the least picky, most consistent lot to lot, and create the most reliable and repeatable killing wounds within the .224 world in what I've seen. I don't really see any reason to deviate from those little brickhouse bastards and if you say "because shit BC" stop it